Justice should get justice

66-year-old Ganguly had refused to make any comments, after his resignation as Chairman of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission in the wake of allegations of sexual misconduct with a law intern has been accepted. The panel had held that the statement of the intern, both written and oral, had prima facie disclosed “an act of unwelcome behaviour (unwelcome verbal/non-verbal conduct of sexual nature)” by the judge with her in the Le Meridien hotel room in Delhi on December 24, 2012.West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had written twice to President Pranab Mukherjee seeking urgent action against the retired judge. The Union Cabinet among other things had taken into account the Chief Minister’s communication to the President. Like other victims (ISRO Scientist Nambi Narayanan, Justice Balakrishnan, God knows how many more) by the time Justice Ganguly proves his innocence, the damage will be done.I’m just wondering, if this is what happens to a person like Mr.Ganguly,what cannot be done to an ordinary person? God know how these RAPE and MOLESTATION terms are being taken advantage of by the victims. Look at AasaramBapu, nothing is proven against him but still he is in jail. There is no mechanism to prove allegations in such cases; however, Justice Ganguly handed over his resignation, four days after the Union Cabinet met and decided to make a Presidential reference to the Supreme Court for his removal from the post as mandated under the Human Rights Commission Act. Ever since the scandal broke in November, the former apex court judge had refused to step down even after a three-judge committee of the Supreme Court had indicted him.

Justice Ganguly has denied the allegations of the law intern and blamed “powerful interests” of trying to tarnish his image due to certain judgements delivered by him. Justice Ganguly did not attend office on Tuesday. So many legislators and MPs have several murder/extortion/abduction cases pending against them and still continue in office. When will they all resign? It proves that rule of law is violated at highest level like 2G scam, coal allocation etc. Please note that the woman filed the complaint after one complete month after the said incident- it proves how money has changed hands to remove an uncomfortable judge. Let us judge where we are leading.

Somewhere I read a beautiful comment, which says as an arbitrator, Justice Ganguly had given the verdict against football club MohunBagan. Now, let’s connect the dots. Trinamool MP SrinjayBasu is MohunBagan’s vice president. It’s a well-known fact that Mamata Banerjee and Justice Ganguly are at loggerheads. Justice Ganguly had rapped the Mamta Govt. on numerous occasions/imposed heavy penalties for branding people Maoists and throwing them behind bars because they dared to question her in public! One case in point is a small farmer from Midnapore named ShiladityaChaudhury. MohunBagan wrote a letter to All India Football Federation to reconsider the 1 crore fine after the molestation charges came to light, saying the verdict of an immoral judge should be reviewed! Now you know why it took 1 year for the lady to level charges against Justice Ganguly. This is a dirty-game being played by TMC to malign Justice Ganguly and get rid of him. The Supreme Court has given its verdict in haste without considering the merit of the PIL.What happens if after complete investigation, Justice Ganguly is found not guilty? Will any action be taken against those for false fabrication of charges? Otherwise anybody could foist case against anybody which is detrimental to fair Administration.

That justice Ganguly, who is under scanner, dips his head under political sand is not unexpected. The questions he raised initially, viz, the constitutional validity of the panel, non- receipt of complaint, his explanation not being heard , his defiance to step down, and above all, his bid to take shelter under political bias and conspiracy, all have exposed the hollowness in his defense. The boat through which he hopes to cross the river of controversies is fraught with holes. It is unlikely that his whining may earn him any sympathy. His once renowned legal acumen, which booked the offenders with no fear or favour, is looked upon with scorn now. His sharp arsenal which once protected the national loss and injustices unfortunately injures the modesty of women. Character is what you are in dark and the bright antecedents of the once revered justice isfailing to show him light now. Moreover, there are many young interns exploited by senior lawyers, asking sexual favours to help in one’s career is a routin practice.In this particular profession, there is no retirement age and sustenance becomes challenge for new comers, they fall prey to all sort of ill practices. In a way this incident has raised alarm, to other woman those getting exploited here. In most of the cases, honest judges get victimised in political vendetta. Hoping for truth to prevail and former justice to get justice……….

Vaidehi, is an investigative Journalist, Editor, Ethical hacker, Philanthropist, Author and an inspiration to many. She is Group Editor of Newsmakers Broadcasting and Communications Pvt. Ltd. Since 8 years, which features an English daily tabloid – Afternoon Voice, a Marathi daily tabloid – Mee Mumbaikar, monthly magazines like Hackers5, Beyond the news (international) and Maritime Bridges, dedicated to IT industry, Indian news to the world and shipping industry, respectively. Besides the business perspective, she is an Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP), Certified Security Analyst and is also a Licensed Penetration Tester.